A local militia leader told AFP that 19 people were killed in a twin vehicle bombing attack in central Somalia on Wednesday that was claimed by hardline Al-Shabaab Islamists. The assault was conducted in the early hours of the morning in Mahas, a community in the province of Hiran where a massive operation against the Shebab was launched months ago under the direction of clan militias and the Somali army.
This latest strike demonstrates that despite having lost ground in this area, the militants are still capable of launching lethal assaults. The blasts claimed the lives of 19 persons, including security personnel and civilians.
About 300 kilometers from the capital Mogadishu, in Mahas, close to a military camp, the terrorists detonated two automobiles, according to Mohamed Moalim Adan, leader of a local militia aligned with authority. Nine deaths were recorded in a prior toll.
The twin blast claimed the lives of about twenty people, largely civilians, but local clan chief Abdikarim Hassan told AFP that such acts will never stop their efforts to be put an end to.
Witness Adan Hassan reported seeing nine dead people, including women and children.
Mohamud Suleyman, a different clan chief, claims that the blasts also injured roughly 50 individuals.
The Al-Shabaab took credit for the bombing. They are an Al-Qaeda-affiliated organisation that has been battling the federal government with the assistance of the worldwide community since 2007.
They were driven from the nation's major cities in 2011–2012, although they are still well-established in huge rural regions.
In particular, the government said in the first few days of December that it had gained control of Adan Yabal, a key Hirshabelle location held by the Shebab since 2016 and used as a training ground and logistical hub for the militants in the area.
But as retribution, the Shebab continue their vicious assaults.
The bloodiest incident in the Horn of Africa nation in five years occurred on October 29 in the capital Mogadishu when two vehicle bombs detonated minutes apart. 121 people were killed and 333 more were injured. Early in October, a triple attack in Beledweyne, the seat of Hiran province, also resulted in the deaths of 30 people, including local authorities. Earlier in August, a spectacular 30-hour onslaught in Mogadishu claimed the lives of at least 21 hotel guests.
The president declared that fresh contingents of Somali soldiers who had received training in Eritrea would soon be sent to fight the Shebab.
